The Accüsed - The Curse Of Martha Splatterhead

I can’t exactly say I’ve been a fan of The Accüsed since the mid-eighties, because I find of lost track of them there for almost twenty years, as did probably a lot of people. I probably originally got into them through Thrasher Magazine alongside bands like this was back in the days of crossover bands like DRI, Corrosion of Conformity, Cryptic Slaughter, Crumbsuckers, Dehumanizers, etc.

It wasn’t until I was living in Vancouver around 2004 that I started hearing about Accüsed gigs happening down in Seattle and I didn’t know if they’d reformed or had been together all along. Turns out to be a bit of both: they’ve never really disappeared, just got put on the backburner a bit during the grunge era as Tommy Accused was in Gruntruck. But they were pretty quiet there for a while, self-releasing, playing hometown shows in Seattle I guess, that sort of thing.

But they’re back with full-force now, and sounding sicker than ever. Not to mention that the mighty mighty Southern Lord has helped put wind in the band’s sails; they’re touring alongside key members of the Southern Lord roster and now have an insane full-length out on Southern Lord, The Curse Of Martha Splatterhead.

The album is awesome: killer production, great sound, with the Martha Splatterhead look and feel awesomely intact. Raging thrash that makes you want to drive fast, skate fast, just generally pump your fist and bang your head. It’s relentless: no ballads, no diversions, no wrong turns or missteps, no droney synthesizer tracks in the middle of the album, no bullshit whatsoever, just pure adrenalin from start to finish. Incredible guitar riffs and a blood perfecty guitar sound. Archetypal crossover thrash by one of the genre’s finest bands.